How did it all begin?
Past Summits
2005:
The first Safety & Quality Summit took place in Prague. It was a smaller group and was mainly comprised of CHC Safety & Quality Managers from all around the world. However after that S&Q Summit took place, there was a thought that one of the main goals of a Safety & Quality Summit is to share knowledge and best practices. In order to achieve that goal, more professionals from all across the aviation industry should come together and share their expertise in safety practices. In light of this fact, all Safety & Quality Summits are not-for-profit. From this idea arose the 2nd Annual Safety & Quality Summit, which took place in 2006.
2006:
The second Safety & Quality Summit brought together over 100 participants, with combined experience from all seven continents, representing each of the Business Units within all three divisions in CHC. Sylvain Allard, President & CEO of CHC graciously backed the cost of the 2006 S&Q Summit and actively participated throughout the days of the Safety & Quality Summit as well. Dr. Scott Shappell and Dr. Doug Weigmann spoke on the theme of Human Error Management at the 2006 S&Q Summit using their Human Factors Analysis and Classification System tool (HFACS) to explain to participants how their safety performance can be improved. Guests included participants from Transport Canada, the FAA, the International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST), Shell, ExxonMobil, BP, and several others. The 2006 Safety & Quality Summit also took place over the course of three days and was well received, which prompted the Safety & Quality Department to plan another Safety Summit for 2007!
2007:
The third S&Q Summit took place in March 2007 and the theme was "Building an Error Tolerant System - Human Factors in a Safety Management System (SMS)." Over 300 participants joined us for this Safety Summit, in what was the largest S&Q Summit at that point in time. Sylvain Allard, once again, kindly covered the costs of the Safety & Quality Summit and was an active participant as well. The 2007 Summit covered a variety of Human Factors related subjects including human error in maintenance, fatigue management, change management with reference to the introduction of new aircraft types, Human Factors Analysis & Classification Systems, safety management systems and the impact of circadian rhythm on safety performance. Dr. Scott Shappell and Dr. Doug spoke again at the Safety Summit, along with several other reputable and well-known professionals such as Dr. P.T.W. Hudson, Professor of Social Sciences at the University of Leiden, Mr. Jim Burin from the Flight Safety Foundation, David Downey from the FAA, and Dr. Peter Gardner from the Southern California Safety Institute. Due to the overwhelming growth and popularity of the S&Q Summit, we had to move the Summit location to the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver for 2008 as we outgrew all other venues available at the time to us.
2008:
The fourth Safety & Quality Summit was from March 31 – April 2, 2008 and took place in the heart of downtown Vancouver at Vancouver’s oldest and most famous landmark hotel, the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. The theme for the 2008 Safety & Quality Summit revolved around the concept of Building a Safety Culture and how to utilize practical tools to leverage your Safety Management System to reduce Human Error. The following Speakers were present (along with many other renowned Presenters): Dr. Scott Shappell, Dr. Doug Wiegmann, Dr. Patrick Hudson, Dr. Bill Rankin, Dr. Peter Gardiner, Mr. David Downey, Mr. Jim Burin, Mr. Bob Williams and Mr. Mike Hurst. For our keynote Speaker, CHC was delighted to have Mr. Sergei I. Sikorsky share his “Reflections of a Pioneer” speech in which he detailed his and his father’s memories and pictures of the early days of aviation.
2009:
The fifth annual CHC Safety & Quality Summit again took place in the heart of downtown Vancouver at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver from March 30 – April 1, 2009. The theme was ‘The Future of Human Error Management in Aviation.’ The 2008 Safety & Quality keynote Speaker was Capt. Al Haynes, who in July 1989 was the Commander of United Flight 232 – a flight and its subsequent landing, by all accounts, no one should have survived.
Mr. Haynes successfully landed United Airlines Flight 232, a DC-10 which had suffered catastrophic damage to its number two engine causing all three of its hydraulic control systems to fail. Combining training, communication, preparation, cooperation and the 12 elements of an SMS made what seemed to be a non-survivable accident turn out to be one of the greatest stories of human performance triumphs where 184 people survived. Mr. Haynes spoke about his experience, “Against all Odds,” during the Monday morning plenary session.
On Tuesday, March 31st, CHC hosted a dinner which featured Dr. Jerry Cockrell as the Banquet speaker. Dr. Cockrell, one of the earliest developers of CRM, spoke on safety, human factors and awareness, giving the audience a humorous perspective on those topics.
2010:
The 6th annual CHC Safety & Quality Summit was held at the Westin Bayshore Resort & Marina in beautiful Vancouver, BC, Canada, March 22 – 24, 2010. To address the core issue of many aviation incidents and accidents, the theme was: "Discipline in Aviation: Professionalism in Flight Operations and Maintenance."
Space travel requires incredible discipline so to launch the 2010 Summit, and in honour of the 40 year anniversary of the first lunar walk, we were thrilled to bring Capt. Eugene ‘Gene’ Cernan to the podium. Captain Cernan was the last man to walk on the moon. Renowned expert Professor Graham Braithwaite from Cranfield University also agreed to be part of the 2010 Summit. With speakers like these and so many others, it was an exceptional learning opportunity.
